Wagner Group Massacred Chinese Miners In CAR

Gunmen stormed a Chinese-operated gold mine in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Sunday, killing nine Chinese nationals, authorities said, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA), Deutsche Welle (DW), Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Photo Insert: The attack came just days after gunmen kidnapped three Chinese nationals in the country's west near the border with Cameroon.

"We have counted nine bodies and two wounded," the mayor of the nearby town of Bambari, Abel Matchipata, told AFP. He said the victims were Chinese workers at a site run by the Gold Coast Group that was inaugurated just days before.

Following the attack, the Chinese embassy called on Chinese nationals to not travel outside the capital Bangui. The massacre has thrown a monkey wrench at the plan of Russia and China to wage a global battle for supremacy against the US.

The attack came just days after gunmen kidnapped three Chinese nationals in the country's west near the border with Cameroon. The abductions prompted CAR President Faustin Archange Touadera to plan a trip to China in a bid to reassure investors.

Philip Obaji Jr. reported for Daily Beast that vigilantes in the area confirmed that two trucks loaded with “white soldiers” wearing Wagner Group insignias went to the Chinese-operated mine.

Ten minutes later, a loud explosion followed, with automatic gunfire continuing for an hour.

In 2020, two Chinese were killed by residents in an attack on a Chinese-operated mine in Sosso Nakombo. In 2018, three Chinese citizens were killed by angry community members after a local leader died in a boating accident in the company of Chinese miners.

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